Scouting Gabriel Jesus: Everything You Need to Know About Man City's New Striker
Manchester City fans have had to wait patiently, but the moment Gabriel Jesus is unleashed in sky blue is now spine-tinglingly close.
The Brazilian signed for the club for £27 million last summer from Palmeiras but completed the 2016 Brasileiro Serie A season before moving to England.
Pep Guardiola will be hoping Gabriel’s 2017 is just as impressive as the previous calendar year, where he fired Palmeiras to a domestic title and emerged as his nation’s No. 1 choice in the lone-striker role.
Flanked by the mercurial Neymar and one of Philippe Coutinho or Willian, he’s dealt damage to the tune of five goals in six senior appearances for Brazil. He also won Olympic gold on home soil alongside talents such as Neymar, Gabriel Barbosa and Luan.
While certain allowances must be made for a player who is just 19 years of age and recently moved continents, it’s difficult not to get excited about the prospect of Gabriel taking to Premier League turf.
He’s shown over the past 12 months why he’s regarded as one of the most talented teenagers in football, and it must be said he’s a great fit for Guardiola’s philosophy.
Plenty of Strengths
Gabriel is a super-mobile, aggressive forward who operates at a high intensity. There’s nothing lethargic about anything he does; he plays at full speed, closing players down and pressing to force errors, and he frequently sparks incisive moves on the ball.
Right off the bat, these are all qualities Guardiola embraces. So long as Gabriel can be taught to press in the right way—that is, to close off either passing lanes or outball options as and when appropriate—he can be the first line of defence Pep wants from his striker.
Palmeiras have consistently benefited from Gabriel’s willingness to chase and harry, placing opposing defenders and goalkeepers under pressure. Forcing shanked clearances that result in throw-ins or corners is quite normal for the Brazilian speedster.
When he gets on the ball, he’s quick, good in tight spaces and will happily take players on one-on-one.
As is the case with most young players, there’s still an element of error and/or overcomplication to his runs in possession sometimes, but given he can also pry open a defence and make the difference after beating three before slamming home, it’s a case of taking the rough with the smooth—the Allianz Parque crowd have learned to, at least.
One notable aspect of his play is his willingness to go wide (to find space), then use those areas well. Too many young attackers have eyes only for cutting inside and shooting, but Gabriel is happy to hit the byline and stretch a defence, expanding the space between the lines and bringing the goalkeeper into action at the near post.
His crossing is pretty good—not bad, but not great—and his willingness to get his head up and deliver balls into the box from these narrow positions has been a great source of profit for Palmeiras.
It’s not necessarily where he plays best, but his ability to operate in these areas and create these chances helped Alviverde midfielders such as Dudu (six), Cleiton Xavier (four), Roger Guedes (four) and Moises (three) boost their goal tallies.
That willingness to drift wide and stretch the pitch is a trait Guardiola loves—it’s the reason Jesus Navas, despite his obvious faults, still has a role to play at City—and Gabriel needs no tutoring in this area.
But as good as his movement on the ball is, his finest trait is his movement off it. His nose for space is incredible, his on-the-shoulder runs are relentless, and the way he drifts across the defensive line to create room for lifted passes is impressive.
Gabriel’s movement, paired with the creativity of the likes of Dudu and Xavier, caused defensive lines in Brazil all sorts of issues in 2016, and Gabriel was able to transfer that straight to the international stage, too.
Quick out of the blocks and speedy over longer distances, Gabriel’s go-to run is the one in behind; he’s always testing the shoulder of the defender and loves to chase longer passes into that space.
When Palmeiras are in possession and there’s no space, he creates it: moving laterally across the line in order to create an angle, he’ll move from one centre-back’s marking responsibility to another’s so fast that before he’s been “passed on,” he’s bearing down on goal.
Gabriel is the kind of striker David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne will love playing with.
From there, his finishing comes under the spotlight, and it’s a trait that has caused some difficulty when judging. He managed a reasonable 12 goals in 26 starts during Palmeiras’ Serie A campaign, but that was inclusive of a quite remarkable goal drought that spanned just over two months. When he finally broke it, scuffing a finish home against Atletico Mineiro, he broke into tears in presumed relief.
In front of goal, Gabriel picks between a powered finish or a chipped one; caressed, curling finishes are few and far between. Every goal he’s netted for the Brazil national side has been either spectacular or bordering on it, with chips against Venezuela and Bolivia the picks of the bunch.
He showcases his explosiveness when engineering a yard before slamming into the corner when in tight spaces, while at close range when running on to crosses, he opts for power in order to make sure.
Confidence, obviously, is key, but one thing to watch is just how affected Gabriel gets when it’s not going his way in front of goal.
A Select Few Weaknesses
No 19-year-old is perfect, and Gabriel has his share of weaknesses. Some are inherent due to his size, somatotype and style, but some can be worked on in the early months of his City career.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gabriel wins little in the air. He loses almost every aerial he’s involved in, particularly when the ball is being launched forward from defence, meaning Palmeiras went through patches in games in which they struggled to maintain possession.
Fortunately, City under Guardiola turn a blind eye to the art of hoofball, so that weakness will not be exposed regularly and won’t hinder the team’s buildup.
A part of his game in need of ironing out is the amount of time he spends on the deck. Premier League punters turn on simulators and divers quickly, and while Gabriel isn’t in that category, the amount of time he spends clutching his shin/ankle/foot after heavier challenges will irk supporters and see him eventually lumped in with Manchester United's Ashley Young if he’s not careful.
In 2016 league play, Gabriel was as much a yellow-card machine as a goal machine; he managed only one fewer caution (11) than he did goals (12), and in his final 13 Serie A games, he accrued more than double the number of yellows (seven) than combined goals and assists (three).
Petulance and discipline on the pitch are Gabriel’s biggest short-term roadblocks to success at City. When that’s the case, you know you’ve got a precocious talent on the books, and the Brazilian will lend a big helping hand to Guardiola’s pursuit of English silverware this season and beyond.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
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